Dale Ellis and Greg Anthony led a big effort from Seattle's
bench and combined for 24 of their 31 points in the pivotal
second quarter as the SuperSonics earned their fourth straight
home win, 111-93 over the road-weary Toronto Raptors.

Gary Payton scored 24 points to pace the Sonics, who improved
their Western Conference-best home record to 25-4. Seattle
(47-15), which clinched a playoff berth on Monday thanks to a
loss by Sacramento, is clinging to a one-game edge over the
Chicago Bulls for the league's best record.

Trailing 47-41 midway through the second period, Seattle used a
23-6 burst to take control. Ellis sparked it with a free throw
and hit a layup to give the Sonics the lead for good, 53-51,
4:30 before halftime. Anthony drained three three-pointers
during the run, which put Seattle in front, 64-53 with 1:17
remaining.

"Their bench did a really good job. The starters struggled
trying to figure out what we were doing," Raptors coach Butch
Carter said. "Their bench came in the second quarter and ran
right through us. We got locked into thinking that guys were
non-scorers coming off the bench, and Anthony got off to the
good start making the threes."

Ellis scored 13 of his 18 points and Anthony had 11 of his 13 in
the second quarter, leading the Sonics to a 66-55 halftime
advantage. Seattle received 43 points from its bench.

"The bench stepped up big time," Payton said. "The starting
five -- and I'm taking blame on myself and with everybody -- we
are not doing the job right now. We're not coming out and being
aggressive, we're just not doing the job right now."

John Wallace had 25 points and nine rebounds for Toronto, which
fell to 0-4 on its current six-game road trip. The Raptors have
lost five games in a row overall and 10 of 11 on the road, where
they are 5-26 on the season.

Vin Baker had 15 points and 10 rebounds, helping the Sonics to a
48-40 edge on the glass. It was the first time in 14 games that
Seattle outrebounded its opponent.

"We've been concentrating a lot on rebounding, but we've got to
concentrate even more," Baker said. "The last couple of times
we've been fortunate enough to concentrate on the boards a
little more and get the ball to bounce our way."

Hersey Hawkins hit two layups and sank two free throws to cap
the 23-6 burst, finishing with 14 points and tying a season high
with 10 boards. He rebounded from an atrocious effort in
Seattle's 99-98 overtime win over Minnesota on Sunday, when he
was 0-for-7 from the field and was held scoreless in 39 minutes.

Sunday's victory capped a 2-2 road trip, during which its only
two wins came by way of overtime. The SuperSonics scored over
100 points for the first time in seven games.

Toronto took control in the early going, opening the game with a
19-6 run. Doug Christie scored seven of his 21 points in that
burst before a three-point play by Marcus Camby capped it with
6:24 remaining in the opening quarter.

Just over a minute later, Camby had to leave the game with a
strained left groin. Camby, who has already missed 14 games
this season due to injury, did not return and is uncertain if he
will be able to play in Friday's road game against the Los
Angeles Clippers.

Once he left, the game seemed to take a turn for the worse for
Toronto. Seattle steadily crept back in, pulling within 32-29 by
the end of the period behind Payton's 11 points.

"We had to just keep playing. We made a lot of turnovers and
then it finally all clicked," Payton said. "We needed to get
rebounds and we needed to run and we were finally able to do
that."

"I think the first six minutes it still felt like we were on the
road," Hawkins said. "We came out making turnovers, they came
out energetic. Gary (Payton) really picked up the tempo on the
offensive end, he got us running and that's what got us back
into the game."

A three-pointer by Christie increased the advantage to 47-41
with 7:51 left in the second period, but Seattle responded with
the decisive burst.

Seattle built its biggest lead, 88-65, on a lay-in by Hawkins
with 3:31 to go in the third quarter. The Sonics went on for an
89-69 lead heading into the fourth.

"They got some good looks," said Raptors guard Chauncey Billups.
"They know what they need to do and when they need to do it."

The Raptors did not quit, using a 14-4 run to cut the deficit to
95-85 with 6:12 to play on a three-point play by Wallace. But
Baker answered with a free throw and Detlef Schrempf hit a layup
and two foul shots to increase the advantage to 100-85 with 4:19
to go.

Toronto got no closer than 12 points the rest of the way in
losing to the Sonics for the fifth straight time.

Schrempf contributed 11 points and eight boards for Seattle,
which hit 50 percent (39-of-78) from the field and made 9-of-18
three-pointers.

Reggie Slater scored 16 points off the bench for Toronto, which
shot 43 percent (35-for-81) and made just 6-of-21 from behind
the arc.